yes!!!! i feel like i have finally found Nicaragua! and Esteli is it. well, for me. from traveling i have learned to not really take anyone´s opinion of a place, since people and circumstances make so much difference. so here i´ve been in Esteli for the past week, taking spanish classes and making day trips to get a feel for the place. to me it feels friendly, busy and at the same time relaxing, nestled in between mountains (and therefore COLD!!!). plaid and cowboy hats are not uncommon and they sell custom made leather cowboy boots on most corners.
lauren and jonathan met me up here and we took a journey (part on foot, taxi, bus and the back of a truck) to a waterfall (pic above). it was gorgeous, though the water was a bit too icey for us. the nicaraguan family there was loving it, though, and shared their watermelon with us after their swim. yes!
i also took a side trip to check out an organization of women who came together to clean up their neighborhood, as it was being used as a trash dump. they began with recycling and then a friendly italian came and showed them how to make paper from composted fruits and veg, and ever since they have been making and selling beautiful paper and cards (pic of one of the volunteers above). it was really inspiring to hear all that they have done and how creative they have been to find ways to help. i might have to look into this paper making stuff when i get back!
also, i was fortunate enough to catch a yoga class downtown taught by an older gentleman who learned yoga from a traveling yogi in the 70´s - it. was. crazy. he had been doing the same routine of patting his body and crawling around on the floor for 30 years and continues to teach it 3 times a day to a devoted group of 4-5 students. needless to say it was a different kind of yoga than i am used to, but lovely to see his passion for it and to see how universal yoga really is.
my FAVORITE part of Esteli, however, was my recent trip to my spanish teacher´s farm to spend the night with her family and see her life. seperate post on that coming up....
2 comments:
Hi Dave and Jenna,
Remember me? I'm Kenny I have been volunteering at Las Mujeres Ambientalistas for over two years. You can go to our web site to see the whole process of how we make the paper. There are lots of photos. Come on back, the next time you're in Estelí, it will be a happy reunion. Kenny Ellwanger
Here's the link: http://ambientalistas.biz/ and here's the link to another site I'm building for the women to display some of the things they make:http://el-ayudante.weebly.com/index.html.
Blessings, Kenny
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